England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, a local ecumenical partnership (or project) is a partnership between

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

es of different denominations. First piloted in 1964, over 850 now exist to promote unity between different

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

denominations. The

missiologist Missiology is the academic study of the Christian mission history and methodology. It began to be developed as an academic discipline in the 19th century. Definition Broadly speaking, missiology is "an interdisciplinary field of inquiry into Ch ...

David Bosch in his ''Transforming Mission'' recognised

ecumenism Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

as the most recent paradigm of mission emerging from the worldwide Church. The main thrust of ecumenism is that despite the theological and cultural differences evident between denominations, the mission of any local Church is made more effective through a united witness. In some cases this has meant that a Christian presence has been retained in areas where neither denomination would be able to continue on its own. In addition, ecumenism encourages the sharing of different worship styles, the development of mutual understanding and the ability for the Church to speak with a united voice on social justice issues. Materials from organisations with a strong ecumenical emphasis, such as the

Iona Community The Iona Community, founded in 1938 by George MacLeod, is an ecumenical Christian community of people from different walks of life and different traditions within Christianity. It and its publishing house, Wild Goose Publications, are headquar ...

and Taizé, are evidence of this. As a result of the Anglican-Methodist Covenant,

Anglicans Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

and Methodists are committed to working in partnership with an end goal of achieving full visible unity.

References

{{reflist

External links

Church of England (Ecumenical Relations) Measure 1988 (No. 3)
* https://www.cte.org.uk/Groups/235275/Home/Resources/Local_Ecumenism/Single_Church_in/URC/URC.aspx
Churches Together in England: Ecumenical Notes
1965 establishments in England Christian ecumenism Christianity in Wales Christianity in England

See also

References

External links